CNN
- CNN anchor Brianna Keilar took issue with Fox News star Tucker Carlson's "white rage" segment.
- She also addressed Laura Ingraham's suggestion to defund the military.
- "He pretends white rage doesn't exist," Keilar said. "He is white rage. Don't sell yourself short, pal."
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Intra-cable news tensions boiled over on CNN Friday morning when "New Day" anchor Brianna Keilar put Fox News host Tucker Carlson on blast over his "white rage" segment Thursday night.
At point during his show, Carlson asked: "How do we save this country before we become Rwanda?"
The Fox News star's overall argument was that US Army Gen. Mark Milley's desire to understand the psychological and historical concept of "white rage" – developed by Emory University historian Carol Anderson as an explanation for backlash to Black people gaining social power and influence – equates to promoting pre-Civil War era eugenics, but against white Americans instead of their fellow citizens who are Black.
"That isn't just a dog whistle. It's a white whistle," Keilar said after playing a clip. "He pretends white rage doesn't exist. He is white rage. Don't sell yourself short, pal."
Carlson also criticized Milley in personal terms, calling him "a pig" and someone who "knows who to suck up to" after his viral congressional testimony on the military's diversity training and how it educates service members on the nation's history of racism.
"Hard to believe that man wears a uniform," Carlson said. "He's that unimpressive."
Keilar was not having any of it.
"Unimpressive, he calls him. What does he mean?" the CNN anchor said of Carlson, Fox News's most-viewed host. "You know, setting aside any disagreements he has with Milley - Milley's not immune from criticism - but look at the stripes on his sleeve. Ten of them, we counted."
-Lis Power (@LisPower1) June 25, 2021
"Each one of those overseas service bars is six months deployed," Keilar continued. "That is five years. That is more time than Tucker Carlson spent at his probably third-choice boarding school."
Keilar wasn't done skewering Carlson, though she did also address Fox News host Laura Ingraham's suggestion that Congress should defund the military if Milley is going to defend how they teach about racism. She described Carlson and Ingraham as following a pattern of antagonizing military leaders.
"Tucker Carlson didn't serve," Keilar said. "His biggest achievement is having nine lives in the world of cable news, making a bow tie famous, and getting away with promoting conspiracy theories night after night after night."